There is an ongoing need both in the residential and commercial context for a range of small or medium-sized containers which can be readily assembled and disassembled.
Typical requirements in the residential context which are not currently being adequately met include, for example, storage boxes for larger toys, containers for garbage bags and storage containers for outdoor tools. This container size range falls below the range serviced by common metal garden sheds.
What containers have been available have tended to be expensive and to lack versatility and portability, and to be insufficiently rugged.
In the commercial context there are numerous requirements for small and medium-sized sturdy containers.
The usefulness of containers of the size of interest is greatly enhanced if the containers can be readily assembled and disassembled. This factor means, for example, that the container can be transported to the retailer, stocked and sold in a knockdown form requiring much less space and can readily be transported by a consumer in an automobile.
In the industrial context the knock-down feature offers the very significant advantage that the container, once emptied, can be disassembled prior to being shipped to a refilling point. The space and handling requirements are significantly decreased in this way.
Against this background the present invention provides a component system which can be readily assembled and formatted to form containers of various sizes and configurations. The containers are very stable when assembled but can be readily disassembled.